Vanilla is the only fruit-bearing orchid out of the hundreds of orchid species. "Vanilla" has become a synonym for "plain" or "boring", but this is unfair to this exotic and finicky plant. Native to Central and South America, vanilla was treasured as both a foodstuff and as currency. It was discovered by the Spanish conquistadors and taken back to Europe during the Age of Exploration, where the Europeans, especially the French, quickly devoloped a taste for it. Vanilla was used by the wealthy in traditional American beverages, and increasingly as a flavoring for pastry. The French loved it so much they bought plant cuttings from the Spanish in South America and transplanted them to their colonies at Madagascar and French Polynesia. When the transplanted vines failed to produce fruit, the French and Spanish nearly came to blows. Finally it was discovered that the little melipone bee was pollinating vines in the Americas, but nothing was pollinating transplanted vines. Even today, vines outside of Central America have to be carefully hand-pollinated by lightly touching each blossom with a stick during the brief time it's open.

Once the blossoms are pollinated and the pods form, they must be picked green and cured in a labor-intensive, months-long process before they can be sold or used to make extract or other vanilla products. Cured beans have an exquisite flavor that blends well in both sweet and savory cooking. Besides the traditional ice cream and cream sauces, try vanilla in fruit dishes, paired with chili peppers or black pepper, or in marinades for pork and chicken. Our website has recipes for chipotle-vanilla salmon and truffle-vanilla duck.

Vanilla is considered a boring or common flavor because imitation vanilla is so easy to make. Real vanilla, either whole beans or extract made from them, is an incomparable flavor, rich both literally and metaphorically, and anything but dull.

Vanilla Variations

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